Cynthia, Before September 1, 1751, the British Empire used the old Julian Calendar in which the year began on March 25th instead of January 1st. This was a holdover from King Henry VIII when he created the Church of England. Not long after he did that, the Pope issued a decree to convert to the Gregorian calendar which dropped 11 days and began the new year on January 1st. Since this was a Catholic decree, England did not observe it, though the rest of Europe did (not all at once, but long, long, long before England did.) Knowing this, English and colonial clerks would often use the "dual dates" in their records, but just as often they did not. If they did not, you can assume they were using "Old Style." (If you see initials of "O.S." or "N.S." in a history or genealogy, the writer is referring to "Old Style" and "New Style"). Therefore, it is very important to keep that in mind and always "dual date" your pre 1751 records so that you and the reader will know exactly which year you are talking about. By the way, on August 31, 1751 the very next day was September 11th. (I think that's right if not close to right.) Last, understanding this really helps solve some otherwise impossible date problems. Hope this helps, Craig Kilby On Mar 17, 2009, at 1:32 AM, Cynthia Claytonroberts wrote: > were the German emigrants Christopher & Elizabeth (unknown*) > Zimmermann who arrived 1717 in Virginia with their sons, John and > Andrew. > They lived in Spottsylvania, then moved to Orange. Christopher's > Will was proved 23 Mar 1748/9 in "St. Mark's Parish, > Orange". Whatever that 1748/49 means on the ground in real time